LOW ALT CIVIL OP IN VIOLATION OF FARS. CFIT.

Narrative

THIS WAS MY FIRST NIGHT PHOTO FLT. PRIOR TO THE FLT; I REVIEWED THE LCL AREA ON MY SECTIONAL CHART FOR OBSTRUCTION INFO THAT MAY BE OF CONCERN. WHEN OUR CLIENT INFORMED ME OF THE PROPOSED AREA OF FLT; I FELT THAT I KNEW THE AREA WELL ENOUGH AND PROCEEDED ON WITH THE FLT. I MENTALLY CALCULATED THE AGL HT OF THE AREA TO BE 700 FT AGL. THIS WOULD MAKE MY BASE ALT DURING THE PHOTO PASSES AT 1700 FT MSL. I REQUESTED; FROM BURMINGHAM CLRNC; A VFR ALT OF 2500 FT AND BELOW FOR A PHOTO FLT IN THE LIBERTY PARK AND HWY 459 AREA. I AGAIN MENTALLY CALCULATED MY LOWEST SAFE ALT TO BE 1700 FT MSL. I FURTHER USED A NEARBY RIDGE LINE AS A VISUAL REF FOR ALTDEV CTL. IF I GOT EVEN OR BELOW THIS RIDGE; THEN I WOULD BE TOO LOW. THIS RIDGE IS APPROX 900 FT MSL. DURING THE PHOTO PASSES; I USED THE ACFT'S ALTIMETER; WHICH HAD THE CORRECT BAROMETRIC SETTING AT THE TIME; AND THE ABOVE MENTIONED RIDGE LINE FOR ALT CTL. DURING 2 OF THE 8 PHOTO PASSES; I WAS TRYING TO POS THE ACFT DIRECTLY OVER A SPECIFIC SITE IN A CRAB ATTITUDE FOR A DESIRED PHOTO SHOT. DURING THIS MANEUVER; I WAS NOT PAYING ATTN TO MY ALT BY REF TO THE ALTIMETER; BUT BY REF TO THE FAR RIDGE LINE. I WAS MORE CONCERNED IN ACFT AIRSPD AND POS OVER THE SITE THAN ALT. WHEN I REALIZED THAT I HAD NOT XCHKED MY ALT; I LOOKED AT MY ALTIMETER AND SAW THAT I WAS AT 1500 FT MSL. THAT WOULD PLACE THE ACFT AT 800 FT AGL AND THAT IS A DEV OF 200 FT OF THE 1000 FT AGL RULE OVER CONGESTED AREAS. I IMMEDIATELY CLBED BACK UP TO 2000 FT MSL TO ALLOW A CUSHION BTWN AND DURING THE PHOTO PASSES. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: I FLEW THIS FLT AFTER WORKING WITH MY OTHER JOB; WHICH STARTED AT XA00. I DID GET 2 HRS OF SLEEP PRIOR TO THE FLT; HOWEVER; I DID FEEL FATIGUE. I ALSO WAS PLANNING ON EATING AFTER THE FLT; THEREFORE; THIS ADDED TO MY FATIGUE. BECAUSE OF THE ABOVE FACTOR; I WAS IN A HURRY TO COMPLETE THE SHORT FLT. BY USING 1500 FT AGL FOR A NIGHTTIME MINIMUM ALTS OVER CONGESTED AREAS CAN BE A BETTER SAFETY VALUE DUE TO THE LACK OF VISUAL CLUES. ALSO; BEFORE EACH FLT; INSURE THAT ADEQUATE REST IS RECEIVED; FATIGUE DOES EFFECT PERFORMANCE MORE SO THAN MANY BELIEVE.